Superman Returns is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris, based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the sixth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as an homage sequel to Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980),[4][5] while ignoring the events of Superman III (1983), Supergirl (1983) and 1984. ), and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). The film stars Brandon Routh as Clark Kent/Superman, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, along with James Marsden, Frank Langella, Eva Marie Saint and Parker Posey in supporting roles. The film centers on Superman as he returns to Earth after a five-year absence, discovering that his love interest, Len, has moved on with his life and that his archenemy Luthor is plotting to kill him and reshape the North. America.
After a series of unsuccessful projects to resurrect Superman on the big screen following the critical and financial failure of The Quest for Peace, Warner Bros. Pictures hired Singer to direct and develop Superman Returns in July 2004. Most of the principal photography took place at Fox. Studio Australia, Sydney while visual effects sequences were handled by a number of studios including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rhythm & Hughes, Framestore, Rising Sun Pictures and The Orphanage;[6] filming began in March 2005 and ended in November of that year.

Released

Upon release, the film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its visual effects, story and singer’s direction, but criticized its screenplay and runtime. Although the film was one of the biggest films of the year, grossing over $391.1 million on a budget of $204–223 million and becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of 2006, Warner Bros. was disappointed with the worldwide box office returns and canceled a sequel for release in 2009 as a result. was set. The Superman film series was completely rebooted in 2013 with Man of Steel directed by Zack Snyder, starring Henry Cavill as Superman, and launching the DC Extended Universe. Routh later reprized the role of Superman in the 2019 Arrowverse crossover “Crisis on Infinite Earths”.

Details

Superman Returns is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris, based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the sixth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as an homage sequel to Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980),[4][5] while ignoring the events of Superman III (1983), Supergirl (1983) and 1984. ), and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). The film stars Brandon Routh as Clark Kent/Superman, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, along with James Marsden, Frank Langella, Eva Marie Saint and Parker Posey in supporting roles. The film centers on Superman as he returns to Earth after a five-year absence, discovering that his love interest, Len, has moved on with his life and that his archenemy Luthor is plotting to kill him and reshape the North. America.
After a series of unsuccessful projects to resurrect Superman on the big screen following the critical and financial failure of The Quest for Peace, Warner Bros. Pictures hired Singer to direct and develop Superman Returns in July 2004. Most of the principal photography took place at Fox. Studio Australia, Sydney while visual effects sequences were handled by a number of studios including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rhythm & Hughes, Framestore, Rising Sun Pictures and The Orphanage;[6] filming began in March 2005 and ended in November of that year.
Upon release, the film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its visual effects, story and singer’s direction, but criticized its screenplay and runtime. Although the film was one of the biggest films of the year, grossing over $391.1 million on a budget of $204–223 million and becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of 2006, Warner Bros. was disappointed with the worldwide box office returns and canceled a sequel for release in 2009 as a result. was set. The Superman film series was completely rebooted in 2013 with Man of Steel directed by Zack Snyder, starring Henry Cavill as Superman, and launching the DC Extended Universe. Routh later reprized the role of Superman in the 2019 Arrowverse crossover “Crisis on Infinite Earths”.

Cast and characters

Brandon Routh as Clark Kent / Superman: Kryptonian superhero whose alter-ego is a mild-mannered farmer-journalist.
Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane: A reporter working with Clark Kent at the Daily Planet and Superman’s ex-lover.
James Marsden as Richard White: The nephew of Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White and Lois Lane’s fiancé. Marsden said Richard serves as an emotional challenge for Superman, as the hero returns to find “Lois Lane has picked someone who is very supermanic”.
Frank Langella as Perry White: Editor of the Daily Planet.
Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent: Clark Kent’s adoptive mother.
Parker Posey as Kitty Kowalski: Lex Luthor’s henchwoman. She worked as a prison nurse and gave Lex his tests. The character is based on Eve Teshmacher from the 1978 film, portrayed by Valerie Perrin.
Kal Penn as Stanford: One of Luthor’s henchmen.
Sam Huntington as Jimmy Olsen: A photographer at the Daily Planet and Clark’s friend.
Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor: A sociopath armed with vast wealth and extensive knowledge of science who is Superman’s nemesis. Spacey’s version of Luthor retains some of the campy characteristics and a similar interest in real estate from the earlier Gene Hackman version, but is more serious and menacing than Hackman’s portrayal. Spacey said that director Singer asked him to play the character “darker and more bitter” than Hackman and not to use the former’s portrayal as inspiration.
Tristan Lake Lemon as Jason White: Son of Lois Lane and Superman. The question of whether Superman or Richard is Jason’s father is initially unclear. He suffers from asthma and other ailments, but is later revealed to be Superman’s son, when he exhibits superhuman strength and unease around kryptonite.
Marlon Brando appeared posthumously as Superman’s biological father, Jor-El. Brando, who died in 2004, reprized his role from the 1978 film through the use of earlier footage combined with computer-generated imagery. Permission to use his footage required negotiations with Brando’s estate. Singer explained, “We had access to all the Brando footage that had been shot. There was unused footage that had Brando reciting poetry, off topic and swearing like a sailor.”
Peta Wilson appears as NASA spokeswoman Bobbi-Faye. Zac Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen in the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman, makes a cameo appearance as Bo the bartender. Noël Nail—who played Lois Lane in the television series and film serial Superman (1948) and Atom Man v. Superman (1950)—appears as Luthor’s elderly wife, Gertrude VanderWorth. Richard Branson plays the engineer on the space shuttle. Another of Luthor’s henchmen (Riley) is played by Australian rugby league footballer Ian Roberts.

Box Office

Bryan Singer convinced Warner Bros. not to experiment with test screenings. Also, Singer removed 15 minutes of footage from Superman Returns after showing some of his “trusted associates”. The final theatrical run time ran at 154 minutes. Warner Bros. originally scheduled the movie for release on Friday, June 30, but moved it to Wednesday, June 28. Superman Returns was released in 4,065 theaters in the United States and Canada on June 28, 2006. On opening day, it earned $21 million, the eighth-highest for a Wednesday opening day and the second-highest for a superhero film behind Spider-Man 2. The film topped its opening weekend, grossing $52.5 million. With a gross of $84.6 million, Superman Returns edged out The Matrix Revolutions for the biggest five-day Wednesday opening for a Warner Bros. film.
Superman Returns: An IMAX 3D Experience was released simultaneously in 111 IMAX-format theaters worldwide, including 20 minutes of converted 3D film material. It was the first Hollywood full-length live-action film to be released in this combined format. One of the scenes Singer took on was the “Return to Krypton sequence”. Ten million dollars was spent on this sequence alone, but it was deleted. Singer noted that it could not be released as part of a DVD feature because it was converted to IMAX 3D. He hoped it might appear in an IMAX reissue. The film’s second-week gross dropped sharply to 58% from its first week due to the presence of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and The Devil Wears Prada. By October, the film crossed the $200 million mark, becoming the fifth film of the 2006 summer season. Superman Returns grossed $200.1 million in North America and $191 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $391.1 million. Domestically, the film was the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2006. Among worldwide totals, Superman returns was the ninth-highest.

About

Directed by	Bryan Singer
Screenplay by	·         Michael Dougherty ·         Dan Harris
Story by	·         Bryan Singer ·         Michael Dougherty ·         Dan Harris
Based on	Superman characters by ·         Jerry Siegel ·         Joe Shuster
Produced by	·         Jon Peters ·         Bryan Singer ·         Gilbert Adler
Starring	·         Brandon Routh ·         Kate Bosworth ·         James Marsden ·         Frank Langella ·         Eva Marie Saint ·         Parker Posey ·         Kal Penn ·         Sam Huntington ·         Kevin Spacey
Cinematography	Newton Thomas Sigel
Edited by	·         John Ottman ·         Elliot Graham
Music by	John Ottman
Production companies	·         Warner Bros. Pictures ·         Legendary Pictures ·         DC Entertainment ·         Peters Entertainment ·         Bad Hat Harry Productions ·         Outback Pictures Inc.
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	·         June 21, 2006 (Los Angeles) ·         June 28, 2006 (United States)
Running time	154 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	·         $223 million (gross) ·         $204 million (net)
Box office	$391.1 million

 

ScreenShots